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2000-02-24 - 14:15:32
I love my cat. I'v had him since 1983, that's like 17 years. That makes him around 87 in cat years. He's so old.
He's been my friend for so long. My constant companion. Through multiple girlfriends and apartments. Through thick and thin.
I'll miss him desperately when he's gone. He's gonna go, too. Someday. He's so old.
He's handsome, but somewhat grizzled. You shoulda seen him ten years ago! He's Siamese. But old skool Siamese. That is, he has the cream colored body and the dark brown points and blue eyes, but he's somewhat stockier that you normally think of a Siamese of being. That's because he's what's called a "Applehead" Siamese, or "Traditional" Siamese. His head isn't elongated like contemporaty Siamese, and his body and limbs are as elongated either. Instead of being cross-eyed, he's wall-eyed. When he looks at you, his eyes twitch back and forth rapidly. It looks really strange. The vet even was taken aback by it.
"When did he start doing this!?" the guy says with alarm in his voice.
"He's been doing it all his life, or at least as long as I've known him, and that's a long time. He's wall-eyed."
"Oh."
He got into a fight with an alley cat when he was younger, so he's got this cool tear in his right ear. What a juxtoposition. He's so pretty, but he's got this rip in his ear that makes him look tough too.
I've been so terrified of losing him for years. Not just because I love him so much, but because of his personality. I've never met another cat like him, and I've lived around cats my whole life.
He's like a dog. In fact, that's how I noticed him. I was away at college, and when I came back I of course had to stay with my mom for a while. She had 5 cats living with her. My mom was a real cat freak, God rest her weary soul. Anyway, this guy would follow me around the apartment, and when I'd settle down somewhere, he'd just hang out nearby. When I would walk to work in the morning, he would follow me down the street, walking along the fronts of the apartment buildings on our street, occaisionally making a pointed remark about my attire. He'd get to the end of the block and stop, and I'd shoo him back, telling him to go back home.
What a character.
When I was younger, my Dad had a Siamese cat named Lancelot that hated me. That cat attacked me several times. I had to go to the hospital twice because of him. Bastard! He actually jump onto my face and started biting and clawing me one time. I still have scars. He fell 9 stories to his death. Poor cat.
After Lancelot, I was a bit wary of Siamese cats. I remember the first few months I had Junior, I used to peek around corners at him, and he'd jump up in the air at my face. Ooh, that was a little scary. Then when I'd hold him in my arms, he'd bite at my face. I'd freak out and throw him to the floor and yell at him.
Then I figured, if I'm gonna live with this cat, I can't be afraid of him. So the next time I peeked around a corner at him, I didn't jump back when he jumped up in the air. He patted my cheek with his paw. No claws. I tried again. The same thing, just a little pat on the cheek.
The next time I held him. I snuggled up to him, and he bit at my cheek. I just let him do what he'd do. He bit my cheek, just a little pinch, then licked it. Later I tried it again. He bit again, nibbled, chewed gently. A little nip, nothing very painful.
I later learned that these were his love bites. But also that if he was angry, or not getting his way, he'd bite pretty hard, not hard enough to break the skin, but enough to show he was annoyed. He usually went for the nose though when angry. Ow!
But now old Junior's way mellow. You can barely get a rise out of him now. He just lays there under the desk lamp soaking up the radiant heat. He gets up to change position and he looks so tired and in pain. He drinks his water from a glass that I put there for him. He goes to the kitchen and eats. He poops.
And when I'm sitting there puzzling over some weird Linux configuration problem at 5 in the morning, I'll look over at him, and he'll be watching me, or sleeping, and I'll pet him gently to remind him that I love him. He'll purr and squirm on his back so I can rub his belly. And I think to myself that when he's gone, I'll be so alone.
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So, how do you like them apples?